by Coleen Leong
Orchard Road is synonymous with world-class shopping and if you’re in Singapore to shop, staying at the revamped Hilton Singapore Orchard will give you instant access to the city’s famous lifestyle hub and a luxe respite when you’re taking a retail break.
Sitting above Mandarin Gallery, next to Takashimaya Shopping Centre and across from the Apple Orchard Road store, the hotel occupies the prime site in the heart of Orchard Road that once housed Mandarin Orchard Singapore. The hotel left its original location next to Forum The Shopping Mall on Orchard Road to reopen at its current spot in February 2022 after an extensive renovation.
With 1,080 fully renovated rooms and suites spread across two wings, the hotel is the largest Hilton hotel in Asia-Pacific.
Drawing inspiration from the history of Orchard Road, an area once rich with pepper farms, nutmeg plantations, fruit tree orchards and spice gardens, the interiors of the hotel sport sleek and refreshing botanical elements, a palette of natural hues and refined wood finishes, the handiwork of interior design studio Avalon Collective.
We spotlight four ways to live it up at the five-star hotel in between your shopping adventures.
Relax in modern luxe rooms & suites
Split across the Mandarin and Orchard wings, rooms and suites are clad in various shades of grey, black and cream, with botanical-inspired touches in the form of carpets with moss green or grey and black abstract patterns. Some rooms have headboards with watercolour mountain-like images, while others have terracotta, dark blue, and black and white cushions on sofas.
Bathrooms sport chic dark green, grey and white tiles with marble countertops, and are stocked with Crabtree & Evelyn bath amenities. All bathrooms in the Mandarin Wing come with bathtubs and a separate rain shower area so be sure to pack your favourite bath bombs for relaxing soaks.
For families or friends travelling in groups, there are rooms like the King Deluxe and Twin Deluxe City View rooms which can fit a rollaway bed; King Panoramic Room that come with a convertible sofa bed; the roomier King Corner Suite which can accommodate three adults or two adults and two kids; and the spacious Two Bedroom Suite that can comfortably house five adults or three adults and two kids.
A standout feature of rooms that draws inspiration from the hotel’s shopping street location is the open wardrobes that Avalon Collective specially designed for guests to display and admire their new clothes, or photograph them for social media.
In-room amenities include Nespresso coffee machines, TWG teas and drinking water that has been treated, purified, mineralised and bottled by a Nordaq water filtration system on-site, one of the hotel’s many sustainable efforts.
Feast on flavours from around the world at Estate
Get ready to feast on a wide spread of global flavours at Estate, arguably one of the best-looking buffet eateries in town. Bearing the creative fingerprints of award-winning design studio EDG Design, Estate’s gorgeous interiors are inspired by old plantation homes that once dotted the Orchard Road area.
Dine in cosy residential-style rooms decked out in stylish sofas, colonnades, black-and-white marble walkways, wooden louvers, metal mesh arches, rattan cabinets, botanical paintings and wallpaper that highlight farmed ingredients from the colonial era like chilli, nutmeg and cocoa.
A key feature of Estate is its five residential-style open kitchens that not only serve up dishes upon order during dinner but also let diners watch the cooking action while deciding on what to fill their plate with.
Its Cooked-to-Order Dinner Buffet, available from Sunday to Thursday, features 10 cooked-to-order chefs’ signatures that are served to your table when you place the table sticks with your table number at the respective open kitchen. Savour chef specialities like Slow-Roasted Tomahawk, Pan-Seared Foie Gras, Signature Black Truffle Roasted Duck, Sarawak White Pepper Slipper Lobster, Baby Abalone with Homemade Black Bean Tofu and Homemade Octopus Gnocchi.
On Friday and Saturday nights, seafood lovers can indulge in as much snow crabs, Maine lobsters, tiger prawns, black mussels, clams, oysters, scallops in shell and yabbies as they want at the Seafood and Wine Buffet. For meat fans, there are barbecued meats like Peri Peri Chicken, Spare Ribs with Peppercorn and New Zealand Lamb Chop, homemade Sakura Chicken Sausages, Roasted Australian Ribeye, Mysore Mutton Curry, Andhra Chicken Curry and Cantonese-Style Wagyu Beef and Handmade Noodles. Enjoy the lavish spread with free-flow of wines, beer and soft drinks.
On Sundays, Estate takes the buffet dining experience up a notch with its Grand Sunday Champagne Brunch, featuring a sweeping collection of 32 European cheeses; homemade pastas; sausages; a seafood bar with Fine de Claire, Irish and Canadian oysters, Maine lobsters, tiger prawns, scallops, and snow crabs; an avocado bar; premium meat cuts; Asian delights; and an array of sweet treats. The brunch also has kid-friendly offerings and interactive activities for the family.
DEALS
• Hilton Honors members enjoy up to 25 percent off food and beverages till 31 December 2024 (not applicable on eve of public holidays and on public holidays, special occasions, and other blackout dates)
Dive into wood-fired pizzas, house-made pastas and dry-aged beef burgers at Osteria Mozza
If you’re up for some best-in-class Italian flavours, book a table at the first Asian outpost of celebrated American chef Nancy Silverton’s one-Michelin-starred Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles.
Pizza lovers will want to sink their teeth into Silverton’s famous artisanal wood-fired pizzas that boast crisp crusts and airy and puffy cornicione. Fired in a custom-built oven stacked with California almond wood, the pizzas are only available for lunch and crowd favourites include Fennel Sausage, Meat Lover, BLT, Bianca, Margherita and Croque Madame.
For burger fans, there are dry-aged beef burgers like the Mozza Classic Burger and the double patty Sooner Smash, also available only for lunch.
All pastas (including gluten-free offerings like Garganelli) are handmade in-house daily, with must-orders like Beef Cheek Ragu, Ragu Bolognese and Ricotta & Egg Raviolo, topped with lashings of freshly grated parmesan.
Other all-time favourites include antipasti like Nancy’s Caesar and Burrata Apricot; mains like Grilled Iberico Pork, Porcini-Rubbed Westholme Wagyu Tomahawk and Whole Branzino all Piastra; and Silverton’s classic desserts like Rosemary Olive Oil Cake, Tin Roof Sundae and Butterscotch Budino.
As no Italian meal would be complete without some vino, the restaurant offers some 280+ labels from different regions of Italy, displayed in a floor-to-ceiling vino wall.
Whether you dine indoors or on the alfresco terrace, you’ll be immersed in the restaurant’s lively, convivial vibe. Its stylish interiors, designed by EDG Design, resemble that of a modern Tuscan farmhouse, with an open kitchen, stacks of firewood, gabion stone walls and flooring, end-cut wood, natural brick screening, exposed fixings, rustic elements, caramel-coloured leather and wood chairs.
DEALS
• Warm up to dinner with light bites like Spicy Lobster Grilled Cheese, Mushroom Arancini, Meatballs al Forno, Fries Diavola and Panini Sandwich plus your choice of tipple from a selection of wines, cocktails, house spirits and beer during Aperitivo Hour, Monday to Friday, 3pm to 6pm (except on eve of public holiday and public holiday). From $15++ per person – Hilton Honors discount is not valid for Aperitivo Hour
• Hilton Honors members enjoy up to 25 percent off food and beverages till 31 December 2024 (not applicable on eve of public holidays and on public holidays, special occasions, and other blackout dates)
Indulge in an afternoon tea sesh, artisanal cakes and craft cocktails at Ginger.Lily
Set in the heart of the hotel, the botanical-inspired Ginger.Lily is a cosy afternoon tea space by day, morphing into an intimate cocktail bar by night.
Avalon Collective drew inspiration from the ginger lily plant for the lounge and bar’s airy, double-height ceiling and cathedral-inspired glass panel door features. The botanical theme is also reflected in an Insta-worthy decorative wall of flowers pressed into resin panels.
For a little mid-day splendour, the Nikkei-inspired afternoon tea experience, which features a blend of traditional Japanese techniques and vibrant Peruvian ingredients, will hit the spot. The afternoon tea takes you on a four-part journey through savoury, sweet, thirst and take me home elements, with table-side torched nigiris complemented with a storybook of sweet treats.
Cake lovers can indulge in artisanal creations from the nature-inspired “Artistry in Bloom” collection. Crafted with French techniques and Japanese ingredients, each cake is a visual masterpiece, with flavours like Strawberry Mochi Shortcake, Manuka Beni Haruka, Ginger.Lily Cacao Garden and the crowd-favourite and aptly shaped Sunflower.
In the evenings, the bar offers a three-part “Experience” cocktail programme, comprising “Synaesthesia”, “A New You” and “Zero-Proof”. “Synaesthesia” presents an interactive, multi-sensorial journey designed to tantalise the taste buds, awaken olfactory senses and delight the eyes. Through unconventional elements like edible perfumes, coloured eye-glasses and wireless neck speakers, guests are encouraged to explore new perspectives and utilise their five senses in novel ways.
In “A New You”, guests can enjoy innovative reimaginings of beloved classics, while in “Zero-Proof”, non-alcoholic mixes have been crafted with precision for sophisticated indulgence.
DEALS
• Hilton Honors members enjoy up to 25 percent off food and beverages till 31 December 2024 (not applicable on eve of public holidays and on public holidays, special occasions, and other blackout dates)
